Finch's
by FadingVisionary
Summary: Alice has been sitting in Finch's for over a month. Will her life ever begin?


_Disclaimer: All copyrighted materials belong to their lawful owners. The author claims all rights to any original characters, plotlines, etc. found in her work. No copyright infringement is intended. No kind of reproduction is permitted without the author's express written permission._

Finch's

_A dark view out of a window, rain falls heavily. The door opens as a blonde man steps in. A small person- a woman?- starts towards him. Her bright soprano voice chimes as she says something that's, as of yet, unintelligible. _

_A once bright red sign reading "Finch's", the front of what appears to be a diner. The back of the blonde man's head as he enters, a bell rings. He and a small black haired woman exit after a few moments pass, their hands clasped. _

"_You've kept me waiting a long time," the familiar woman said. She held out her hand, an invitation. The man hesitated, wariness shadowing his face, before his hand twitched forward and, almost involuntarily it seemed, took the proffered hand. _

_A blue and white Buick pulled away from the curb at an alarming rate to the few pedestrians watching from the windows of the familiar diner. The car sped down the road, stopping briefly at a stop sign. As the vehicle raced out of the town it passed a faded sign reading "Welcome to Philadelphia!"._

_The vampire walked down the deserted sidewalk on the Main Drive, with a pace just faster than a normal human's walk, and a tense stride constantly on the cusp of shifting into a defensive stance. The heavy rain slowly soaked his jacket and hair. Noticing this, he paused in front of a small establishment. After a moment's deliberation, he turned in._

_A blonde man covered in scars opened the door, the bell jingling cheerfully. His jacket dripped on the floor as he looked around warily, his black eyes darted about the room, taking in the dull interior and aromatic smell of the densely packed humans. If possible, his eyes got darker._

_When he was only just inside the door, a small black haired woman hopped off her stool and started towards him. Her movements were so graceful, her skin so pale, that she could only be another vampire. He tensed as she approached, and was then stunned by her aura. Such undiluted joy and relief exuded from her as she smiled up at him._

"_You've kept me waiting a long time."_

"Can I get you a refill, miss?" asked a middle aged waitress, referring to my coffee, and inadvertently breaking my concentration as I scanned old visions; looking for any clues I may have missed. I looked up into her artificial, tobacco stained smile, replying with my own and nodding.

As she took my cup away, I sunk back into my trance-like state, considering the situation. All of the conditions were perfect, I would just have to wait.

The waitress returned without my coffee, my prop. "Sorry miss, but we're making a fresh brew, so it'll be just a minute."

"That's fine." I reply, smiling the smile that made humans feel just fractionally more comfortable around a creature so different from them.

I'd been sitting in this little diner in Philadelphia, every day, for over a month. But I knew that the beginning of my forever would start here, in Finch's, at any time. The thought was thrilling.

After I found Jasper, we would look for our family. The Cullens. That particular vision was still blurry, just glimpses for now. But I knew we would find them. Because I _wanted_ that family, I _wanted_ to belong and feel loved. Not just the kind of love that Jasper would give me, but the familiar love that comes from having siblings, parents. I didn't remember having that, and that only made me yearn for it more.

Waking up alone, in that awful hospital gown, only knowing my name (and not even knowing if that was my real name or not) was the most terrifying thing in the world. That was a dark time for me, those first few years. I couldn't control myself; whenever I came within the vicinity of a human I turned into a killer, a machine.

I would be forever grateful to Jasper and the Cullens for unknowingly saving me. Those visions of knowing that my life would get better, that I would eventually be surrounded by people that loved and cared about me, were the only thing that kept me from becoming a raving monster.

After that, I attempted the Cullens' lifestyle, with sporadic success. For the first few years or so I couldn't help myself; the fragrance of a human was too much temptation to resist. I did my best to stay away from buildings, cities, villages, anywhere there might be people.

I did better after the beginning. I practiced my restraint and slowly integrated myself into human affairs. I observed humans behaviors; fidgeting, blinking, breathing, walking, talking. Anything that might set me apart was something I changed.

I stole money and bought some clothes- it was then that I discovered my zeal for fashion. After discovering the stock market, I put away a tidy sum, bought a car, and started to travel the northern half of the United States.

Over the last decade or so I've worked hundreds of odd jobs, and gotten a few degrees. Fashion and design were, of course, among them but I also found human behavior fascinating so I also earned degrees in Sociology and Psychology.

All of that had been a distraction, though; distraction after distraction, waiting for my life to begin. And now it was finally going to.

"Miss? Here's your coffee." The waitress was back again. I opened my mouth to respond, but she was all ready walking away. As I stared into the murky brown of the coffee, I detected movement outside the front window. I'd stopped getting hopeful after the first few hundred times a person had walked by, or stopped in and it wasn't Jasper, but I couldn't help the hope that welled up inside of me every time.

Reflexively I turned halfway in my seat to look out the dark window. I identified a tall silhouette and blonde hair; I imagined my heartbeat quickening as though I was human, along with my breathing. Ever so slowly the door opened, bell jingling cheerfully.

A blonde man stepped in, ducking his head a bit under the low eave. As the door swung shut I carefully hopped off of my seat. His eyes quickly swept over the room and its occupants, and almost imperceptibly, his coal eyes darkened. I walked over to him, my gait slow for a vampire, but just too fast for a human. At the moment I couldn't bring myself to care.

I stopped in front of Jasper, still smiling brightly. His back hunched defensively for a millisecond before he straightened up, shock written in the planes of his face; he perceived no threat.

"You've kept me waiting a long time." I told him in a lilting voice, a voice one would use when addressing a familiar, a friend.

He seemed rather confused, but, like a good southern gentleman, he dipped his head and replied, "I'm sorry, ma'am."

My grin got bigger and I extended my hand. After a brief moment of hesitation Jasper put his hand in mine and, just for a moment, I knew exactly what he was feeling, because I felt it too. Hope.

_A/N: This was originally written for Fandom Against Famine, and we had permission to post in December, but (stupidly) forgot. Hope you enjoyed it! _


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